A reverse 911 page was issued by the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office communication center to put local residents on alert.

Less than an hour after the robbery, Meeker Police Department officer Jim Amick apprehended Thacker in a cow pasture on the south bank of the White River near Cole Field Services, 163 Water St.

A standard search of the suspect revealed Thacker had $1,279 in cash on him, according to court documents.

On April 11, the night before the robbery, Thacker spent the night with a Meeker woman, according to court records.

At approximately 8:45 a.m. April 12, the woman drove Thacker back to his cabin at the Rustic Lodge, 173 First St., where owner Andrea Gonzales later reported Thacker had been staying for about a month.

At around 9:11 a.m., approximately 10 minutes after the robbery, Thacker phoned the Meeker woman and asked her to pick him up at his cabin, court documents state.

It’s unclear what transpired during the next 30 minutes, but at 9:41 a.m. the woman received a text message from her uncle that a notification had been issued by county authorities.

The woman read the text aloud, to which Thacker reportedly responded, “How did you know I robbed the bank?”

According to court documents, the woman asked Thacker why he robbed the bank.

“I need the money to get home to Louisiana,” he said, according to court documents.

Authorities assume that Thacker and the woman then parted ways.

He returned to his rental cabin at the Rustic Lodge to change clothes.

Soon after Thacker was spotted by Thomas George, a manager at Cole Field Services, wearing a red shirt, blue jeans and a red baseball cap, and “wandering aimlessly” in George’s truck yard, according to court documents.

George called Michael Joos, Rio Blanco County Undersheriff, and reported a suspicious person matching the description of the suspect.